Global Switch launches the final stage of its Hong Kong data centre

Global Switch, the leading owner, operator and developer of large-scale network dense, carrier and cloud neutral multi-customer data centres in Europe and Asia-Pacific, has launched the final stage of its Hong Kong data centre, located in the Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate.

The 100MVA state-of-the-art data centre, comprising five inter-linked buildings, has become the largest multi customer, carrier and cloud neutral data centre in Hong Kong, as well as the largest data centre in Global Switch’s portfolio.  This latest stage of the development, adds to the initial stage which launched in 2017, providing an additional 35,600 square metres and 58MVA of utility power supply capacity of world class infrastructure services, which are immediately available. This brings the total infrastructure services of Global Switch Hong Kong to 70,228 square metres and a total utility power supply capacity of 100MVA. 

Global Switch Hong Kong, located in a region that is experiencing the highest data centre growth rate in the world, offers exceptional connectivity and scalability as well as flexible solutions to meet bespoke customer requirements. It benefits from three geographically diverse entry points, multiple interconnected Meet Me Rooms and a vibrant content and communications hub.  Customers have numerous connectivity options available and can immediately benefit from a multitude of cloud providers, ISPs, international, regional and local telecommunication providers already present in the data centre enabling easy connection to global IP backbones. 

Global Switch Hong Kong has energy efficiency and sustainability at the heart of its design and forms part of the Company’s ESG strategy of reducing its carbon footprint, as well as helping customers meet their own climate change targets.

The data centre benefits from an annualised design Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) of less than 1.3 which has been independently verified by CBRE Romonet, and is designed to achieve a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum rating, and a Hong Kong Green Building Council’s BEAM Plus Gold rating. The facility incorporates some of the latest energy efficient and resilient technologies designed to minimise power consumption and reduce the carbon footprint of the data centre, including an elevated temperature free cooling system and high efficiency uninterruptible power system (UPS).

Global Switch Hong Kong also benefits from thermal storage tanks providing a total of 700m3 of thermal storage that ensure continuous cooling at full load in the event of a city power failure.

The facility is fed by two completely independent 132kV power sources with three on-site 50MVA transformers in N+1 configuration to meet the capacity and reliability customers require for their operations. In order to cater for all customer requirements, the data centre incorporates both static uninterruptible power supplies (SUPS) with the generator back-up supply, and diesel rotary uninterrupted power supplies (DRUPS) which incorporate the standby power function.  The data centre has one of the largest installations of lithium ion batteries with over 13MW of capacity. Lithium batteries benefit from a range of features including the battery health monitoring system, as well as superior operational cycles and faster recharging time compared to lead acid batteries. 

Following the launch of the final stage of Global Switch Hong Kong, the Company’s global footprint has increased to 428,000 square metres (4,600,000 square feet) with an aggregate 427MVA of utility power supply capacity.

John Corcoran, Chief Executive Officer of Global Switch, said: “Despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Global Switch team, our contractors and supply chain have worked tirelessly to ensure that the final stage of our Hong Kong data centre was completed, allowing our customers to commence ramp up of their deployments on schedule.  It is a fantastic achievement and strengthens our position as one of the leading data centre providers in the region, providing our customers with rapid scalability and a full range of cloud and managed services supported by highly resilient power and cooling infrastructure and state-of-the-art security systems.

“We have witnessed accelerating demand in this market and in addition to completing the data centre, we have also completed major fit-outs for financial services and hyperscale cloud providers.  We are delighted to support and contribute to maintaining Hong Kong’s position as one of the world’s leading financial centres, as well as serving the needs of the global digital economy.”